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108 of 114 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's a Good One full of small town secrets!, January 26, 2010
This review is from: Secrets of Eden: A Novel (Hardcover)
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The title alone of Chris Bohjalian's latest book: The Secrets of Eden, drew me in, and never let go. Having read all of this author's books, I can say without a doubt that Bohjalian is one of those talented authors, who can expertly write about controversial subject matters and family issues while keeping the reader hanging on and anxiously turning the pages,
Secrets of Eden takes place in the small town of Haverill, Vermont. The story is told through the perspectives of four central characters. From the very first pages the reader gets a feel of what is going on in the mind of Reverend Stephen Drew of the local Baptist Church......
(p.3) "On those sorts of Sundays, whenever someone would stand and ask for prayers for something relatively minor -- a promotion, traveling mercies, a broken leg that would surely mend --I would find myself thinking as I stood in the pulpit, 'Get a spine, you bloody ingrate! Buck Up! That lady behind you is about to lose her husband to pancreatic cancer, and you're whining about your difficult boss? Oh please! -- I never said that sort of thing aloud, but I think it is only because I'm from a particularly mild mannered suburb of New York City, and so my family has to be drunk, to be cutting. I did love my congregation, but I also knew that I had an inordinate number of whiners."
And, while all small towns have their secrets, no one including the Rev. Drew, was prepared for what would happen on the very day he baptized one of his own parishioners. On the very day that Alice Hayward came to be baptized in Brookner's pond, she along with her husband George would be found dead. The Haywards, along with their teenage daughter Katie were prominent members of the community. At first their deaths were believed to be a murder-suicide, but when the State's attorney, Catherine Benincasa, begins to investigate she is not so sure. Slowly secrets are revealed, which help to unravel the mystery behind the deaths.
I don't want to reveal too much more about this story other than to say that there was one other prominent character in the story which I feel I need to mention. Heather Laurent is an author of spiritual books about angels. While Heather is in the area giving a talk at Bennington College, she hears about the murder-suicide and visits Rev. Drew to see if she can provide some spiritual assistance. Heather seems drawn to the Reverend, and becomes somewhat of a mentor to 15-year old Katie Hayward. Heather, like Katie, lost her parents to spousal abuse when she was about Katie's age.
MY THOUGHTS - In this riveting literary suspense novel, the author does a wonderful job with a difficult subject --spousal abuse, and its effects on a family and community. The author has created a vivid sense of place, a believable story, well drawn out characters and surprises along the way. Readers who enjoy compelling novels that touch on human emotions should not be disappointed with Secrets of Eden. RECOMMENDED
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30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"We never outgrow those small, wounded things we were.", January 26, 2010
This review is from: Secrets of Eden: A Novel (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Bohjalian has written a provocative novel of faith and angels, murder and abuse in a bucolic Haverill, Vermont. In alternating chapters, each character reveals his perspective of the local murder-suicide of George and Alice Hayward, as the author explores humanity's tendencies to proffer judgments in the face of tragedy. For Reverend Stephen Drew, the murder-suicide engenders a crisis of faith. Alice was his parishioner, her fifteen-year-old daughter, Katie, a former member of the church's youth group. In fact, Stephen baptized Alice Hayward the morning of her death, Alice's only cryptic comment after her full immersion in the water, "there". Now Stephen is left to ponder the significance of that single word.
Heather Laurent, author of two best-selling books about the existence of angels, is drawn to the tragedy, to Stephen and to Katie, because of her personal history. Angels have had a profound influence on Heather's daily existence; in fact, the appearance of an angel has saved her from a suicide attempt. It is only natural, then, that Heather should find herself at the rectory with Rev. Drew, and through him to Katie, Alice's daughter. The immediate spark between minister and author is undeniable, he of dwindling faith, she full of grace. But reality is seldom as it appears, Heather ultimately facing yet another test of her soul: "I had allowed my mortal judgment to cloud my celestial instincts."
When forensics evidence indicates murder, States Attorney Catherine Benincasa is not inclined toward existential discussions of faith or the beneficence of angels. Hers is a world of cold, hard facts and the facts point to one particular suspect. As local residents clamor for a resolution to the murders within their midst, Benincasa's boss bows to the pressure of his constituency, demanding results sooner rather than later. It is only for lack of critical evidence that the main suspect remains free. Then there is Katie, coping with the enormity of her loss and navigating a place suddenly filled with gossip about her parents and befriended by an ethereal angel of mercy, Heather.
The issue of domestic abuse takes center stage as a primary character, a husband's rage fueled by alcohol, his wife suffering in silence until her death reveals the ugly secrets and collateral damage of a family in crisis. Like a puppeteer, Bohjalian manipulates suspicions, reactions, an unexpected romance and reality obscured by each character's personal prejudices. Bedeviled by moral ambiguity, Secrets of Eden is filled with small, painful truths, angels and horrors dancing unrestrained on the head of a pin. Luan Gaines/2010.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another entertaining novel from this author, January 29, 2010
This review is from: Secrets of Eden: A Novel (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Brief summary and review, no spoilers.
The story starts out just after the deaths of George and Alice Hayward, in an apparent murder/suicide. The location is a small town in Vermont, where many knew that Alice was an abused wife.
The story is broken up into several sections, each narrated by a different person. We hear from the town pastor, who harbors a guilty secret. We hear from a woman who writes books about angels, who becomes involved because her own parents killed themselves in a murder/suicide. We hear from law enforcement, and from family members, including Katie, the only child of the Haywards who is rightfully traumatized by her parents death.
What's nice about this technique of multiple narrators, is that we get a Rashomon like effect - each narrator tells their perspective of the facts, and it is only at the end when we know the complete truth, and how some of what we were told was wrong.
This story is not only a mystery, but also an informative look at spousal battery and alcoholism, and their effect on family members. In fact, we see how addiction and abuse affect can often hinder our ability to make social and personal connections later on in life.
Recommended. If you have enjoyed Chris Bohjalian books in the past, such as Midwives or The Double Bind, you will probably enjoy this.
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